Messages

276

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Anatomy of a screenshot.

« on: April 17, 2008, 08:17:26 AM »

The Terran Supply Depot



The Terran Supply Depot is a building that allows the Terran army to increase in size as the game progresses.  Each Supply Depot adds an additional eight points to the unit cap of the Terran army.  In the original Starcraft, it was very common for Terran players to use Supply Depots to block off entrances to the base and use long-range fire to attack invading forces.  In Starcraft 2, the Supply Depot can now be submerged underground to allow forces to pass over them and then recalled back into position to wall off enemy forces.  Very cool.



A common sight when trying to break into a Terran players base



A before and after shot.

277

Nintendo Gaming / Rondo of Swords - UPB for the win

« on: April 16, 2008, 09:00:44 PM »

Updated Contest results:
Click here for the auction!

Bid tracking:
UltimatePartyBear - $19.80


Original Thread below:
Wow, no thread on this one?!  If you didn't know, it's a strategy RPG with a slight twist.  Instead of an attack command, everyone just moves through the enemy.  If you can move 6 spaces and 5 guys are in your path, you hit all 5.  If you pass through allies, you can earn support upgrades like extra health or attack/defense bonuses.

I just picked it up tonight and started running through the tutorial.  Really different.  I'm used to AW/FE where I can wall of my weaker units, not so in this game.  I can't even beat the last tutorial and I've tried it 5 times already.  Once I figure out what I'm doing wrong, I'll update again.

Here's an older trailer to the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tDhbHbb_tk

278

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Anatomy of a screenshot.

« on: April 16, 2008, 02:56:39 PM »

Hey, about the protoss warp point thing... coud you set the warp point as a rally point for new units you're creating? If so, as one finished warping, another would finish creating and walk to the warp point to go to the new location. That would be kinda cool, and would eliminate some of the micromanaging that's bugging KDR so much.

(I kinda doubt this is possible, but still...)

No, what you're describing wouldn't work with the cooldown time being involved.  It's like your Warpgate shuts down after warping in a unit.  I actually had a long explanation typed out, but then read that the developers are changing the cooldown time for Warpgates.  Warpgates still will not have a queue ability, but in exchange will have shorter cooldown times in general.  It's being tested for balance, but players with good micro can now outproduce players with macro skills that rely on queuing.  Interesting balance there,  I like it.

The Warpgate seems to be a good choice for quick strike attacks, surprise flanking moves, and players with real good micromanagement.  Gateways would be the way to go if you prefer a more macro style of game.  Both Gates have there own uses at different times during a game and the best players will find a way to utilize them together.

I'm saying the UI is crippling since there's no reason they can't implement queueing.

BTW, the wireframe is kinda clunky, a health bar would have the same effect...

They haven't implemented it since it appears to be unbalanced.  Further testing may prove otherwise and they will add it to the game.  We'll see.

As far as the wireframe is concerned, it's really there as a quick glance color indicator for the player when moving large groups of units.  The wireframe has been carried over from SC1 and I have gotten used to it.  It helps when I have a group of units that need to be repaired.  I can select the group and choose the damaged ones to be repaired by my SCV's.  This is helpful since units don't show any signs of damage no matter what their current hit point levels, unlike buildings which show visual effects to indicate damage.

There are still a few UI features that I haven't mentioned at this time.  One of the new features is pressing the Alt key to bring up hit point/energy bars for all units and buildings on the screen.  It's just a different way of getting information quickly on the fly, as opposed to looking at colored wire frames.  I have a feeling I'll be using this quite a bit.

279

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Two to beam to the surface. Energize.

« on: April 16, 2008, 08:55:16 AM »

Updating the User Interface

The original Starcraft was released back on March 31st, 1998.  While the game has been heralded as one of the best RTS titles of all time, the games user interface really shows its age.  Over the last decade, the RTS interface has changed and evolved quite a bit.  Starcraft 2 will integrate several changes to its interface in order to bring it up to more modern RTS titles.  It won’t include every change imaginable, just the ones that won’t cause the fundamental gameplay to be affected.  These changes will certainly help reduce the learning curve for newer players and allow seasoned fans to reduce the amount of things they need to worry about and focus more on the battling and economy.  I’ve included what I know to be true via developer comments or through screenshots.  This list may not include all of the changes to the final game.

I’ll be using the following screenshot to show some of the changes:



It’s quite a battle we have going on here, but more importantly, it shows off several improvements to the UI.  The first thing to notice is that the player has a single SCV selected at the current time.  A new feature is being shown here as the SCV is being ordered to build multiple structures.  The SCV will complete the first structure and then immediately start the next one.  You can tell that this is happening by the wire framed green structures in the screenshot.  By ordering up several structures to be built in a certain order, it allows the player to concentrate on other tasks at hand, such as the enemy attack he’s facing.  It looks as though the SCV will be making a total of four Missle Turrets, assuming it survives the attacking enemy army.

Next let’s focus on the upper left corner:



These are menu commands that can be accessed by pressing the appropriate F# key.

-The F9 key will bring up map objectives such as destroy all enemy buildings, go to X location on map, survive X minutes, ect.
-The F10 key will bring up the menu screen to change the game speed, sound effects, and other options
-The F11 key will bring up alliances.  This will allow you to ally other players in skirmishes or unally them to backstab them.  Not advised.
-The F12 key gives you access to your races Tech Tree.  This is extremely helpful for newer players that haven’t memorized what buildings are needed to make what.

Moving along to the upper right corner:



Starting on the left we have the players current mineral amount, then their vespene gas amount, and finally their current and maximum unit counts.  Looks like this player has too much money and not enough units.

In the lower left corner we have the mini map, shown here:



The mini map is used to see what’s going on in the battlefield even if your not focused on it.  The mini map is an essential tool of any RTS and games can be won or lost depending on whether your paying attention to it or not.  On the mini map, the player’s units are always represented as green, no matter what your actual unit colors wind up being.  In this screen shot, the player is the red Terran, but shows up as green in the mini map.  The enemy always shows up in the mini map in their actual color, in this case teal.

In addition, when your units fall under attack, the mini map will draw a red box to show you exactly where the attack is taking place.  There will also be an audio clue, and upon hearing the warning, the player can press the spacebar to be taken to the last update.  This is an important hotkey to remember.

To the right of the mini map are three symbols.  The first one up top is a circle which I have no idea what it does.  Sorry.  The middle symbol can be used to turn the terrain off in the mini map to make it easier to distinguish enemy forces and money on the mini map.  The final symbol is another way to assign alliances with other players.

The last thing to note is the SCV symbol located above and to the left of the mini map.  This icon tells the player that he has a worker unit that is idle and not doing anything.  This player has one unit idle as indicated by the 1 in the lower right corner.  If the player clicks on this button, your screen will be immediately focused on that unit.  If there are multiple units, the player can cycle through them by continually clicking on the button.  If that number is large, you may have finished mining all the money at a location and now have a bunch of idle workers.  Remember, idle workers mean no money is coming into the coffers.  Make sure to keep your workers busy.

Next, we have the unit box:



This box gives you a wealth of information about your selected unit.  This picture shows us the SCV’s hit points, a wire frame of his model, his armor level, his attack level, his kill count, and his type modifiers.

-The hit points let you know how close the unit is away from death.
-The wire frame is a visual indicator to see how damaged a unit is at a glance.  The frame goes from green to yellow to red.  If you see a bunch of red units, you may want to get them fixed up asap.  This is extremely useful when you have multiple units selected in a group and don’t have the time to look at their individual hit points.
-The armor value is the box on the left.  Currently, the SCV has an armor level of 0.  If you hover the mouse over this button, the armor type will appear.  The armor types are light, armored, or building.
-The weapon value is the box to the right of the armor level.  If you hover your mouse over this button, the attack strength and modifiers will show up.  Had this been a Ghost unit, the attack strength would have displayed as “6 + 12 vs light”.
-The kill count shows how many enemy units this unit has slain.  Not much strategic value, just kind of neat to look at.
-The unit type modifiers, if any, are displayed along the bottom.  This SCV is classified as Fleshy, Mechanical, and Hover.  These can be both good and bad depending on the spells and modifiers of your other units and your enemies units.
-Although it’s difficult to make out in the picture, there is a small number 1 in a box over the unit box to the left of the wire frame.  That number can change from 0-9 and represents which group this unit is in.  Say you have a group of 30 marines selected.  By holding the Ctrl key, you can assign them as a group to any of the number keys.  You can even assign the same unit to multiple groups.  By tapping the number key that they are assigned to, you can recall the group or center on them at any time.  This is essential for controlling large groups of units in the middle of a game.  No unit game has been given for group size and as of this writing it is an unlimited selection.

Finally, the lower right corner:



Here we have the unit command window.  Any and all commands that you can issue a unit can be found here.  All units share the top row of commands which are (from left to right):

-Move without attacking
-Move and attack
-Stop moving
-Patrol from one spot to another attacking enemy units that appear
-Hold position and only attack enemy units within attack range

The next two rows are reserved for special techniques, spells, and abilities for each type of unit.  In our example, the second row features the SCV’s ability to repair units and mine resources.  On the bottom row, we see that the SCV can build basic and advanced structures.

That’s it for the user interface.  There is a lot more to cover, but this is a good stopping point.  I’ll update more UI changes in a future update.

280

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Two to beam to the surface. Energize.

« on: April 16, 2008, 08:54:22 AM »

Manual placement for every unit is micro IMO. Not allowing queueing on the warpgate sounds like typical SC crippling.

If the warpgate needs the same time as the gateway for making units (even if it's a cooldown) that won't allow quick deployment of anything meaningful. If it could create multiple units and teleport the whole force when it's done that'd be something different but a one-by-one trickle of units sounds just like cannonfodder to me.

Manual placement of units is definitely micro, but I don't see how that is crippling.  Look at it this way:

Pros: 
-Warp in units anywhere power is accessible.  Power can be provided by a Phase Prism or a sneaky Probe creating a hidden Pylon.
-No extra cost
-Free transportation of units without the need of a Dropship

Cons:
-Cooldown time equal to creation time
-Manual placement of units increases Micro requirements
-Units could be stranded if no transportation back is researched
-Units can be killed during warp in

The Pros definitely outweigh the Cons.  Adding Micro to the building is a perfect way to balance the buildings strength.  As a player, you have the option of warping in a bunch of units before you attack.  It also doesn't take many Protoss units to overwhelm an enemy, especially in an open field situation.  The element of surprise is what makes this ability incredible.

In my opinion, if you could queue up warping units it would be a broken ability.  The warp in removes the rally point aspect by instantly placing your unit at a location as opposed to having them walk there.  Imagine if you just attacked a enemy and wiped out a good portion of his defenses.  You could easily warp in a group of units to finish them off before they had a chance to build up new units.  Sure, you have to wait for the cool down, but the damage would be done.  That's just one example of how flexible this ability makes the Protoss. 

One of the best aspects of SC is the great balance between Mirco and Macro.  If you lean to far in one direction or the other the game isn't the same anymore and becomes to one sided.  Warcraft 3 is an example of too much focus on Micro where as Supreme Commander has too large a focus on Macro.  Don't get me wrong, both games are very good at what they do, but the style just isn't for me.  Macro players tend to make larger armies and send them into battle and focus on creating reinforcements to overwhelm their opponent.  Micro players will focus on a smaller army and utilize spell casters to defeat an opponents army.  The problem is that nobody, no matter how good they are, can be everywhere all the time.  As a player you need to decide where to focus your attention and make quick decisions.

In summary, giving the Protoss army the ability to flank and surprise any location gives them a huge advantage.  Even if your not using the ability, just the fact that you can do it will get inside your opponents head.  The more things your opponent has to worry about, the less he will be focused on other matters at hand.  Mind games are just as important, if not more than, hand speed and tech tree memorization.

Sorry for my long posts, I tend to type and ramble too much.   

281

General Gaming / Re: Soul Calibur Jumps the Shark, and then beats it with a lightsaber

« on: April 15, 2008, 03:33:17 PM »

I read somewhere that Yoda would be downloadable on the 360 and vice versa with Vader on the PS3.  I imagine that each system will have a timed exclusive before being able to purchase the other one through PSN or Live.  Of course, don't quote me on that.

Not to site whore too much, but here is a comic that my friends and I did when they first made the announcement:

http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0031.html

If only it could be true, if only...

282

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Two to beam to the surface. Energize.

« on: April 15, 2008, 11:29:51 AM »

I'd be interested to know that as well.

Interesting, if the Warp Gate does bring them in that quickly.  Is there an additional cost tradeoff for warping units, or is the cool down period the only drawback?

That really changes the dynamic of Protoss defense.  The one thing that bothered me about the Protoss was the very slooooow build times of each unit.  This would be great if you needed quick reinforcements.

From everything I've read, the Warp Gate will bring the units to their warp in locations quickly with the only drawback being the cool down time.  No extra cost involved.  There is the extra time between the transformation between Gateway and Warp Gate and the manual locating of each warping unit to consider.

If you are a fast enough player or good at macro management then these drawbacks shouldn't matter too much to you.  If you like to focus more on combat and queuing up units with rally points, then you might want to focus on Gateways instead.  You could always change between Gateways and Warp Gates to suit your current needs as well.

283

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Two to beam to the surface. Energize.

« on: April 15, 2008, 09:31:32 AM »

Is it really that fast to make units?

Probably not, I think they were just warping in that fast for the demo.  The warp in time will be quick though because the warpgate has to cool down after making the unit.  The cool down time is equal to the time it would take to normally make the unit.  Kinda like how Hyper Beam hits hard but tires out the Pokemon for the turn after.

Pokemon references=win

284

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Gateways, not just for PC's anymore.

« on: April 15, 2008, 08:10:18 AM »

The Protoss Warpgate



The Protoss Warpgate is the result of backwards engineering the technology of the Xel’Naga, the ancient race responsible for the creation of the Protoss and the Zerg.  On command, any Gateway can transform itself into a Warpgate.  The Warpgate can deploy any ground unit the Gateway can, but can deploy them to any location on the map that has pylon power.  This means that you can quickly send units to the front lines, reinforce island expansions, or attack enemy bases from places they wouldn’t normally expect.

The Warpgate can only send one unit at a time and needs to go offline to cool down after warping in a unit.  The duration of the cool down is equal to the time it would normally take to create the unit.  This will not allow the Protoss to queue up more units like a normal Gateway can.  Also, be careful not to lose the source of Pylon power when warping in units.  If the power field is lost while a unit is warping in, the unit is killed and the money spent on it is lost.  The Warpgate can only transport in new units and cannot warp existing units around the map.

Using a Warpgate requires more attention by the controlling player as each unit must be called in and placed on the map accordingly.  Warpgates can be changed back into Gateways at any time the player wants.

Transforming a Gateway into a Warpgate.
As you can see, the entire process takes about ten seconds.

Warping in units.
Check out this video to see warping in action.  The video starts with four Stalkers coming into battle.  Later, at the 1:40 mark, you can see how the player uses Phase Prisms to set up energy fields which allow Zealots to join the action.  I wouldn't recommend watching anymore unless you want spoilers!

285

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Gateways, not just for PC's anymore.

« on: April 14, 2008, 10:59:58 AM »

Thanks for the link to that DOW II video. 

I gurgle with discontent at the thought of SC/DOW flame threads.  It goes without saying that SC2 is going to sell a bazillion more copies than DOW II ever can, I just hope the DOW franchise sells more than well enough to keep it alive.  I'm keeping a vigil for an online Star Wars: Battlefront-style game set in the 40K universe.  If I'm ever able to sneak around as a Tyranid Lictor and behead Imperial Guardsmen, I'll die peacefully and phase into Nerdvana.

I actually LOLed at the Nerdvana reference.  Nice.  The DOW franchise has gotten great reviews and as long as they continue putting out quality expansions, I see no reason for the franchise to go away.  I good Star Wars RTS would be great, but they haven't really nailed it quite yet.  Don't know why either, maybe they just need a better developer to take the reins.

I think Relic tries to be more inventive and makes much more interesting games as a result, the balancing isn't as great as Blizzard's but the tactical and strategic options you get are much greater.

I don't expect SC to PLAY like TA, I just expect it to CONTROL at least at the same standard. I spend way too much time fighting the interface in Starcraft, with a proper UI you don't need a high APM to do stuff.

And yeah, you'll probably never see me in SC2 MP, I'm just not too much into conservative game design. C&C3 was just bland and I'm not sure I'd like playing Starcraft++ either.

Well, I can assure you that the UI has been updated quite a bit for SC2, but it will still play like SC1.  I think the biggest problem with SC2 is SC1's legacy.  If they vary it too much then no one will like it and go back to SC1.  SC1 fans are probably some of the most fickle fans in gaming and trying to satisfy them is next to impossible.  Actually, that sounds a lot like Nintendo fans come to think of it.   

286

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Do the math.

« on: April 14, 2008, 08:26:51 AM »

The Protoss Gateway



The Protoss Gateway is the building that is needed to create the powerful Protoss ground forces.  Like all Protoss buildings, the building is warped in by a Probe as long as it’s within range of a pylon.  The Gateway is used to make the following units:


The Zealot
"My life for Aiur!"


The Immortal
"We march to victory!"


The Stalker
"From the shadows I come."


The Dark Templar
"Adun Toridas."


The High Templar
"Khassar de Templari."

The Gateway also has one more trick up it’s sleeve which will be revealed tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

287

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Do the math.

« on: April 13, 2008, 10:48:35 AM »

Meh, calculations like that is why Starcraft is so annoying. I hope this time it's at least visible which unit is what kind of target, DoW told you what class a target has and what classes a weapon is good against in the tooltips.

The calculations aren't actually necessary.  The game can be enjoyed without knowing all of the numbers and technical jargon associated with it.  The numbers game is really only for the players that are hard core into Starcraft.  I will go into detail about the changes and improvements to user interface later this week.

You seem absolutely in love with Warhammer and I have a feeling I may not get to play any SC2 with you when it comes out.  I know the feeling though.  SC was my first RTS and I compared everything else to it.  "It's just not SC enough for me." is what I'd always say after playing any other RTS.  It's that narrow minded focus that made me miss out on a lot of good RTS titles and enhancements to the genre.  I guess we just like a certain something and stick with it.  Kinda like Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat back in the day.

On a side note, did you see the Warhammer 2 announcement?  Here's the teaser trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Vq2p60A7I

No gameplay yet, but any news is good news, right?  Maybe we'll get SC2 and Dow2 around the same time and can start an epic flame war thread!   

288

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Do the math.

« on: April 12, 2008, 12:36:26 AM »

Back to the Warhammer connection, is it true that former Warhammer guru Andy Chambers is working with Blizzard these days?

From Wikipedia:

Chambers is currently the Creative Director of Blizzard Entertainment, working on Starcraft II.

289

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Do the math.

« on: April 11, 2008, 08:28:07 AM »

Oh yeah, don't forget to vote for your favorite race.  Terran for life!

290

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Contain your gas.

« on: April 11, 2008, 08:26:46 AM »

Damage and Armor Types

The old saying in football is that defense wins championships.  I don’t know how true that is, but it certainly has it’s merits in Starcraft 2.  The big difference is knowing the difference between Attack types and Armor types.  In the original Starcraft, the system was very complicated and extremely confusing.  For example:

A Terran Vulture had a ground to ground attack that did 20 points of damage.  This is more than three times the amount of damage that a Marine could do.  So why are they not the weapon of choice against Protoss Dragoons?  Why are Marines a better choice?  The difference is in the Attack type.  The Vulture’s attack type was explosive.  That meant that it did full damage to small lightly armored units.  Great against money gatherers and Marines/Zealots/Zerglings.  That same explosive damage did 75% less to larger armored units.  That means that the Vulture only does 5 points of damage to a Dragoon!  Well, he actually does 20 points to his shields until they run out then 5 damage to the hit points and uh….never mind, it’s too confusing.

The system has been reworked and is a whole lot easier to understand now.  Every unit is classified as having one of three types of armor: Light, Armored, or Building.  Obviously, buildings are the only things that get the Building armor type, leaving Light and Armored for the units.  Units can also be classified as being either Small, Medium, or Large.  Some units get an armor bonus based on their size and power.  You can upgrade the Attack and Armor levels up to three times for all of the units in the game.

I know your head is spinning by now, but let’s put it into some easy to understand terms, with our some of our favorite units.


The Terran Ghost is a small unit with Light armor.  His starting armor value is 0.  His starting attack value is 6.  For each upgrade he gets a +1 to his armor or +1 to his attack.  The Ghost gets a special bonus of +12 vs Light armored units. 

The Protoss Zealot is a small unit with Light armor.  His starting armor value is 1.  His starting attack value is 8 and he attacks twice.  For each upgrade he gets a +1 to his armor or +1 for each attack.

The Zerg Ultralisk is a large unit with Armored armor.  His starting armor value is 1.  His starting attack value is 20 and he can attack two different units at the same time.  For each upgrade he gets a +1 to his armor or +3 for each attack.  The Ultralisk gets a special bonus of +5 vs Buildings.


When the Ghost shoots at the Zealot, he will do 17 points of damage.  6 regular damage + 12 vs Light armor bonus - 1 for the Zealots armor value.

When the Zealot attacks the Ghost he does 16 points of damage.  (8 for each attack – 0 for the Ghost armor) * 2 attacks.

Let’s say the Zealot has his armor and attack upgrade all three times:

The Ghost shoots the Zealot and does 14 points of damage.  6 regular damage + 12 vs Light armor - 4 for the Zealot armor value.

The Zealot attacks the Ghost and does 22 points of damage.  (8 regular damage + 3 damage upgrade - 0 for the Ghost armor value) * 2 attacks.


What about the Ultralisk you ask.  The Ultralisk walks up to the fighting Ghost and Zealot.  Sensing the larger danger, the Ghost and Zealot attack it together.  So:

The Ghost attacks the Ultralisk and does 5 points of damage.  6 regular - 1 for the Ultralisk armor value.  There is no bonus because he is not Light armor type.

The Zealot attacks the Ultralisk and does 14 points of damage.  (8 regular damage - 1 for the Ultralisk armor value) * 2 attacks.

The Ultralisk attacks the Ghost for 20 points of damage and the Zealot for 19 points of damage.  (20 regular - 0 for the Ghost armor value and 20 regular - 1 for the Zealot armor value.) Notice that the Ultralisk does not do 40 to each because it attacks two different units and not two attacks on the same unit like the Zealot.


Whew!

Not to try and scramble your brains any more than I already have, it’s important to remember that units can also have the following modifiers: Fleshy, Mechanical, Robotic, Biological and Hover.  These modifiers can have effect another units attacks and spells.

The above mentioned Ghost has a special ability called Snipe that does 50 points of damage, but can only target fleshy and biological units.  The ability grants a bonus of +100 vs small units.

Sniping…hmmm.  Yes, that reminds me of a puzzle:

A Ghost uses his Snipe attack on the Ultralisk (Biological) and the Zealot (Fleshy).  How much damage will he do to each assuming they are without upgrades?

A group of 12 normal Zealots attack a fully upgraded Ultralisk?  If they win the encounter, how many are left?  Ultralisks have 600 hp and Zealots have 160 total hp.

Can a group of three ghosts kill a single Ultralisk before it kills them?  Assume the Ghosts have enough energy to use their Snipe attack only once.

A group of 6 Zealots and 2 Ultralisks are having a race to see who can destroy a pair of buildings first.  The buildings have 500 hp each and are next to each other.  Who wins the race?

If a group of 20 fully upgraded Ghosts attack a normal Ultralisk, how many shots would it take to kill it and how many Ghosts would be alive afterwards?  Assume that their attack rates are all the same so that every time the Ghosts fire the Ultralisk attacks.  The Ghosts have no energy for Sniping.

Bonus points if you use a Layton quotes when answering.  Also, the first person to get all of these answered correctly gets this:

291

Nintendo Gaming / Re: New Ace Attorney announced! (Gyakuten Kenji)

« on: April 10, 2008, 11:57:56 AM »

Information yanked from GAF:

~ Shu Takumi, the director of the series, is not involved with development...(Probably because he's working on the 5th game of the main series...)
~ Story takes place around Trials and Tribulations (Phoenix's era)...
~ More familiar characters besides Edgeworth and Gumshoe will appear in the game...
~ The game is mostly focused on investigation (though it never actually says anything about a lack of trial)...
~ Development progress: 40%

T&T era, cool.  I always thought the investigation aspects of the series were it's weakest point.  Trying to figure out where to do next was always frustrating.

292

Nintendo Gaming / Re: New Ace Attorney announced! (Gyakuten Kenji)

« on: April 10, 2008, 10:06:10 AM »

How cool would a multi-player court room drama game be?  You have 2 players go head to head as attorneys, 1 player to play the judge, 1 player to be the defendant, and multiple players to act as witnesses.

Before each case, each lawyer can explore/view a number of areas and start to gather evidence for the case.  This would be a timed event, say 5-10 minutes.  Not all evidence would be useful, some would be there to throw you off track. 

The game would play out with the lawyers, judge, and witness playing in real time.  In court each lawyer takes turns asking questions and can Object a limited number of times.  The Judge would have the power to approve or deny objections.  The witness would have their character profile in front of them including a list of information based on their perspective of the crime.

The witness player could view a movie of what they saw at the time of the murder.  The movie would be their memory of the event and could be interpreted in different ways based on what the player thinks happened.  The witness wouldn't be privy to all the details until the lawyer shows them evidence.  This may sway their thinking, but would heavily depend on the player "staying in character".  It could be that the witness is the murderer and trying to stay out of jail.

The lawyers would each have a 2-3 minute time limit to ask questions.  After each side asks their questions, the next witness is called.  After x number of witnesses have testified, both lawyers get to make a final speech.  The entire process is recorded and sent out to 12 randomly selected Jurors.  The Jurors would be selected before the trail started and they would have the option to accept or decline the summons.  After playing back the entire trial, the Jurors make a plea of innocent or guilty.  Majority wins.  The lawyers than get their stats updated.

There's obviously a lot involved in getting something like that to work, but it would be a riot if they could make it happen.  The cases would have to come in the form of downloadable content.  It would probably make for a console/pc title, but a handheld wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility.

So what do you think?

293

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Mario Kart Wii Mega Thread

« on: April 10, 2008, 09:44:27 AM »

I'd probably be safe in assuming that most people in this forum are picking the game up.  As long as someone makes sure the friend code exchange thread opens up on time, we will be good to go.  I'd love to see us coordinate some 12 player matches.   

Looks like I'll have to fight NinGurl for dibs on Daisy.    

294

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - I see you or I shoot you.

« on: April 10, 2008, 08:08:12 AM »

Vespine Gas Collectors

Vespine Gas is the second of two resources needed in the world of Starcraft.  If you want to get further along in to your tech tree, Vespine Gas is an absolute must.  Vespine Gas geysers are usually located near mineral patches.  Unlike minerals, Vespine Gas geysers must have a structure built on it before it can be harvested.

The Terran Refinary



My how industrial looking.

The Protoss Assimilator



Now that is elegant.  Almost like a work of art.

The Zerg Extractor



Eww.  That's just nasty.

Nothing to special here.  The Terran SCV builds the Refinary and starts collecting gas when he’s done.  The Protoss Probe warps in the Assimilator and can then continue to mine minerals. Finally, the Zerg Drone mutates itself in to the Extractor.

By the way, good rule of thumb is to have three workers collecting gas.  Any less is inefficient and any more has workers waiting to get in to the collector, thus becoming inefficient too.  The only time this would change is if the gas geyser is further away from the drop off point.

295

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - I see you or I shoot you.

« on: April 09, 2008, 03:35:02 PM »

Have they locked in that they won't be able to fly?  If so then the Survelliance Station should see cloak and underground units in your base as well.  I could see losing the expansions when you fly off but totally losing flying is totally different.

Nothing is locked in at this point, so almost everything I post in this thread could potentially change.  As far as having the Survelliance Station detect cloaked/burrowed units in your base, it would have to be fairly limited in range.  Maybe a circular range encompassing the Command Center.  Honestly, I think that they will change it to make the CC fly again before it's all said and done. 

I can't see anyone seriously giving up the survey station for the guns unless the guns are extraordinarily powerful, in which case Blizzard will nerf them and we'll be right back to no one using them.

Check out this video clip to see the Planetary Fortress in action.  I would recommend starting at the 1:26 mark as to not spoil a future update.  Watch how quickly the Planetary Fortress repels the group of 12 Reapers.  As a bonus, the video shows off the D8 mine that the Reaper now has.  The mines are good versus structures.

I could see it being useful in early game situations where you might expect a rush, particularly before underground or cloaked units are used to attack; or if you have to build an expansion in a contested area and need the extra defensive power before you get firmly entrenched.   That being said, I wonder if it is available as an early tech.

Since there is no more academy, I would imagine the add ons come in to effect once you attach a Tech Lab on to your Barracks.  Just guessing though.  Having one of these on an expansion, especially on an island, would be greatly beneficial.

Personally I give them a knockback and make them pretty powerful but, they wouldn't have a huge range.  Your giving up flight, most bases will only have 1 command center, and it can only concentrate on one set of targets at a time by the look of it.  Making it less effective in a rush.

It can target two units at a time, check out the video above.  In the video, the Planetary Fortress is killing them in pairs.  Seeing as how the Reaper has 45 hp, we can assume it's doing at least that much damage to two different targets at a time.  That's enough to kill most early rushing units, except Zealots.  That's nothing to sneeze at and makes a tough decision for Terran players.

296

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - I see you or I shoot you.

« on: April 09, 2008, 10:57:54 AM »

So, are nuclear silos completely gone?  That would make me one sad ghost.

No, there still there, they just have their own building now.

297

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - A floating cash center

« on: April 09, 2008, 08:17:20 AM »

The Terran Command Center Add-ons

Choices.  Every person makes choices in their lives, some turn out to be good, others, not so good.  Well, you can’t go wrong with the two add-on structures for the Terran Command Center.  In the past, you had to choose between a Comscan sweeper or a Nuclear silo.  99 out of 100 times, the Comscan sweeper won out.  Nukes just weren’t that effective in Starcraft.  This time, the choice is more difficult.

The Surveillance Station



The Surveillance Station is the replacement for the old Comscan sweeper.  Much like the old Comscan sweeper, for a cost of 50 energy, a player can look at any part of the map to reveal what’s under the fog of war for around 5-7 seconds.  In addition, the Surveillance Station will reveal any cloaked or burrowed units for the length of the scan.  This add on is vital for intelligence gathering and to save your units from cloaked units in a pinch.

Sorry about the picture, it’s the best I could find.

The Planetary Fortress



Now that’s what I’m talking about!  Upgrade your little ole’ Command Center to a killing machine.  A twin set of cannons emerge from the top of the Command Center to protect it and it’s workers from invading forces.  This should definitely help out expansions and island bases that are lacking in firepower.



Get out of my money line!

With all these great add ons, how can I choose which one I want?  Hold up there a second.  Once you upgrade your Command Center it will forever lose it’s ability to fly.  UGH!  So now the question?  Scanner, base protection, or flight w/transport?  Hmmm….

298

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - The bane of my existance

« on: April 08, 2008, 08:16:32 AM »

The Terran Command Center



The Terran Command Center is the heart and soul of the Terran economy.  All of the resources collected have to be brought here.  The Command Center is the only building that can create SCV’s, the standard worker unit of the Terran.  In addition, like most Terran buildings, the Command Center can lift off the ground and fly to new locations.  This time though, the Command Center can load up five SCV’s to allow the Terran to start collecting money as soon as it lands.

Meet the Terrans.

Here is the Command Center landing and deploying it’s SCV units.  As a bonus, this clip shows off the Reactor and Tech Lab from a previous update and is hosted by the nearly world famous Time Traveling Dustin Browder!



The Terrans trying to stave off a Zerg onslaught.  Wait a second?!  Is it me or is there something weird about that Command Center? 

299

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - The bane of my existance

« on: April 07, 2008, 09:20:28 PM »

BTW, It's a long match, which is very unusual at that level of play.

Wow, ain't that the truth.  A game over an hour long is quite unusual, but always fun to watch.  The announcer was grating on my nerves at the end of the match with his anti-terran rhetoric.  Using Science Vessel w/irradiate is not cheap.  It can be countered, it's just difficult when your enemy gets that many of them.  One plague on a group of Vessels can spell their doom by just one Mutalisk.  PHEW!

I wish I could watch Starcraft replays during lunch.... 

300

General Gaming / Re: The Starcraft mega thread - Unlimited Power!!

« on: April 07, 2008, 09:09:11 AM »

The Zerg Baneling



The Zerg Baneling is the newest evolution of the regular Zergling.  The Baneling is basically the replacement for the old Infested Terran unit in Starcraft 1.  The Baneling only has one attack: a high damage splash damage suicidal ram.  Sure, you might lose the unit, but the fear factor alone is enough to make your enemy think twice before engaging a Zerg swarm.  Oh, did I mention that they can burrow underground?

Baneling in action

Even the big, bad, Protoss have much to fear from the Baneling.



Baneling or not, the Zerg simply won’t make it up this heavily defended ramp.